Parallel computing techniques are used in many industries and applications for implementing computationally intensive models or simulations. Metadata is additional data that describes the actual data. For example, metadata can be used in many parallel computing systems to describe where the corresponding data is stored. The amount of metadata produced creates a large number of small input-output (IO) requests for important information that cannot be lost. In a multi-tier storage environment, for example, the cost of multiple small IO operations for both data and metadata becomes increasingly prohibitive as the storage tiers become increasingly distant.
A need therefore exists for techniques for aggregating multiple input-output operations into batch network operations so that multiple input-output operations can be processed at once.